‘Next Generation’ Dunkin’ makes its debut in Milford
MILFORD — Adam Berggren isn’t one to miss a party.
Dunkin’ reopening with a Next Generation store in Milford qualified as such. Throw in a booklet for the first 100 customers guaranteeing one free coffee for 52 weeks and Berggren was all in.
“I wasn’t the first person in the parking lot, but I was the first person in
line,” said Berggren, who lives five minutes away from the newly remodeled Dunkin’ restaurant at 275 Boston Post Road. “Everybody was saying, ‘Don’t get out of your car, don’t get out of your car.’”
“I don’t know how to meet people when I’m in a car. So, I said, ‘I’m just going to start the line.’ It was fun once everyone joined me. The mixture of excitement and tiredness just blend in.
“I’m the person who doesn’t need caffeine, to have the energy up here,” he said raising his hand over head. “Coffee puts me like to the season.”
To guarantee that natural high, Berggren ordered a pink velvet iced coffee.
“This is our second Next Gen location,” said owner Nicole Ball, after handing Nitro coffee to a long line of waiting Dunkin’ fans in the parking lot. “But this is our busiest location by volume as for the four stores we own.”
Ball said the Milford store got a complete remodel, for which is it was closed for eight days. The location on Orange Avenue in West Haven also got a remodel. “Dunkin’ really puts the grand back in grand opening,” she said.
“We were very excited about doing this. It is a perfect fit for the town of Milford, featuring the tap system and the beautiful doughnut cases and the new coffee system,” she said. “Choosing to do the giveaway was something we wanted to do to reward our loyal guests.
“My father (Frank D’Andrea) started the business in 1991. I came in as an owner with my dad and brother Francesco about six years ago,” she said. “My husband, Joe, is the director.”
Alycia Sabrowski and Michael Wong were easy to spot about 15 paces from the front door. They brought chairs to ride out the wait.
“We were here in the car around 4 a.m.,” Sabrowski said. “Once the line started up, we jumped in and this is where we’ve been. I love Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, I’m going to try the new caramel.”
Wong said: “I grew up in Boston, where it originated, so Dunkin’s always been a family thing.”
For the D’Andreas, and by extension the Balls, food service is a family business.
“Our family started in the food service industry in 1978 when my dad, Frank, had a Baskin-Robbins in the Trumbull mall,” Francesco D’Andrea said. “He kept at it, stepped away, and then started a Dunkin’ Donuts in 1991. It was simple: doughnuts, some handmade muffins and ceramic cups of coffee. This is truly a New Gen store.”
“I come here all the time,” said Jia Lowe of Norwalk, who works at Once Upon a Time Development Center two driveways down from Dunkin’. “When you work with children, you need that extra fuel.”
Lowe, however, doesn’t go to school with only a cup of coffee in hand.
“I like to bring the kids doughnuts when I can,” she said. The class favorite? “The strawberry frosted with sprinkles. They always love that one.”